The Emporia AAAs couldn’t muster any offense in a 4-0 loss to Lee’s Summit to begin play in the Blue Springs (Mo.) Wood Bat Tournament.
Emporia managed just two hits and only a handful of balls out of the infield.
“You could definitely tell we were swinging wooden bats,” Emporia AAA coach Ryan Oden said. “Our bat speed was slow.”
The AAAs, which practiced for two weeks with wood bats before the Pittsburg Wood Bat Tournament they played in earlier this year, had just two days to prepare with the new sticks before this week’s games.
Meanwhile, Emporia wasted a strong outing from Jared Krause on the mound. The right-hander allowed just four hits in a complete-game effort but took the loss.
The AAAs also suffered from some mental lapses, which included runners not tagging up on fly balls and getting picked off once reaching base.
“It was really frustrating,” Oden said. “Our guys just did not seem into it.”
The good news for Emporia is that the opportunity to advance in the tournament is still there, as every other team in the AAAs’ pool also lost on Wednesday.
Emporia will play DeSoto at 3:30 this afternoon before taking on Oak Grove, Mo. — Oden’s former Legion team — at 8:30 tonight.
“We need to play Emporia baseball,” Oden said. “If not, we could be home by Saturday.”
Blue Springs Tournament
Wednesday at Blue Springs, Mo.
Emporia AAAs 0 2 2
Lee’s Summit Bulldogs 4 4 1
L — Jared Krause.